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THE WAY OF PEACE 

























































e ®lap of i$Jeace 


BY 

JAMES ALLEN 

Author of “As a Man Thinketh” “Out From 
The Heart” 



R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 

18 East Seventeenth St., New York 











*y of CONGRESS 


. i wo Oirjie-s Received 

| OCT 14 i90*‘ 

wonyneht Entry 

*>*»>•' r, >7*7 

CLASS ft XXc„ Ho. 
COPY B. 


Copyright, 1907 
By R. F. Fenno & Company 






CONTENTS 


The Power of Meditation . . n 

The Two Masters, Self and Truth . 25 

The Acquirement of Spiritual Power . 38 

The Realization of Selfless Love . 47 

Entering into the Infinite ... 63 

Saints, Sages, and Saviours: The Law 

of Service. 75 

The Realization of Perfect Peace . 87 


7 











































THE WAY OF PEACE 



t? 



THE POWER OF MEDITATION 

Spiritual meditation is the pathway to Divin¬ 
ity. It is the mystic ladder which reaches from 
earth to heaven, from error to Truth, from pain t^ 
peace. Every saint has climbed it; every 
must sooner or later come to it, and every weary? 
pilgrim that turns his back upon self and 
world, and sets his face resolutely towards 
Father’s Home, must plant his feet upon ifsi ‘ 
golden rounds. Without its aid you cann8^ 
grow into the divine state, the divine likeness, the 
divine peace, and the fadeless glories and unpolluK ' 
ing joys of Truth will remain hidden from you. 

Meditation is the intense dwelling, in thought, 
upon an idea or theme, with the object of" 
thoroughly comprehending it, and whatsoever 
you constantly meditate upon you will not only 
come to understand, but will grow more 
more into its likeness, for it will become Tm 
corporated into your very being, will become,’ 
in fact, your very self. If, therefore, you con¬ 
stantly dwell upon that which is selfish and 
debasing, you will ultimately become selfish and 
debased; if you ceaselesT think upon th^fc- 

V) 

v 


12 


The Way of Peace 

• 

which is pure and unselfish you will surely be¬ 
come pure and unselfish. 

Tell me what that is upon which you most 
frequently and intensely think, that to which, 
in your silent hours, your soul most naturally 
turns, and I will tell you to what place of pain 
or peace you are traveling, and whether you are 
growing into the likeness of the divine or the 
bestial. 

« There is an unavoidable tendency to become 
literally the embodiment of that quality upon 
which one most constantly thinks. Let, there¬ 
fore, the object of your meditation be above 
and not below, so that every time you revert to 
it in thought you will be lifted up ; let it be pure 
and unmixed with any selfish element; so shall 
your heart become purified and drawn nearer to 
Truth, and not defiled and dragged more hope¬ 
lessly into error. 

Meditation, in the spiritual sense in which I 
am now using it, is the secret of all growth in 
spiritual life and knowledge. Every prophet, 
sage, and saviour became such by the power of 
meditation. Buddha meditated upon the Truth 
until he could say, “ I am the Truth/’ Jesus 
brooded upon the Divine immanence until at 
last he could declare, “ I and my Father are One.” 

Meditation centred upon divine realities is 
the very essence and soul of prayer. It is the 


The Power of Meditation 13 

silent reaching of the s6iU towards the Eternal. 
Mere petitionary prayer without meditation is a 
body without a soul, and is powerless to lift the 
mind and heart above sin and affliction. If you 
are daily praying for wisdom, for peace, for loftier 
purity and a fuller realization of Truth, and that 
for which you pray is still far from you, it means 
that you are praying for one thing whilst living 
out in thought and act another. If you will 
cease from such waywardness, taking your mind 
off those things the selfish clinging to which 
debars you from the possession of the stainless 
realities for which you pray; if you will no.longer 
ask God to grant you that which you do not 
deserve, or to bestow upon you that love and 
compassion which you refuse to bestow upon 
others, but will commence to think and act in 
the spirit of Truth, you will day by day be grow¬ 
ing into those realities, so that ultimately you will 
become one with them. 

He who would secure any worldly advantage 
must be willing to work vigorously for it, and 
he would be foolish indeed who, waiting with 
folded hands, expected it to come to him for 
the mere asking. Do not then vainly imagine 
that you can obtain the heavenly possessions with¬ 
out making an effort. Only when you com¬ 
mence to work earnestly in the Kingdom of 
Truth will you be allowed to partake of the Bread 


14 


The Way of Peace 



Truth, 


of Life, and when you have, by patient and 
uncomplaining effort, earned the spiritual wages 
for which you ask, they will not be withheld 
from you. 

If you really seek Truth, and not merely 
your own gratification; if you love it above all 
worldly pleasures and gains; more, even, than 
happiness itself, you will be willing to make the 
effort necessary for its achievement 

If you would be freed from sin and sorrow; 
if you would taste of that spotless purity for 
which you sigh and pray; if you would realize 
wiscj|^%nd knowledge, and would enter into 
" " L ' r profound and abiding peace, 

enter the path of meditation. 


supreme object of your meditation 


and let 1 
beTrufe 

At the outset, meditation must be distinguished 
ffom idle reverie. There is nothing dreamy and 
unpractical about it. It is a process of searching 
and uncompromising thought which allows noth - 
i but the simple and naked truth . 
g you will no longer strive to build 
your prejudices, but, forgetting 
remember only that you are seeking 
And so you will remove, one by one, 
ou have built around yourself 
tiently wait for the revela- 
vill come when your errors 



The Power of Medita 

have been sufficiently removed. In th 
humility of your heart you will realize th 

“ There is an inmost centre in us all 
Where Truth abides in fulness; and around, 
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in; 
This perfect, clear perception, which is Truth, 
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh 
Blinds it, and makes all error; and to know, 
Rather consists in opening out a way 
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape, 
Than in effecting entry for a light 
Supposed to be without.” 


Select some portion of tlie day in 
meditate, and keep that period sacred to y* 
purpose. The best time is the very e« 
morning when the spirit of repose is upon every¬ 
thing. All natural conditions will then be m 
your favor; the passions, after the long bodily 
fast of the night, will be subdued, the excitements^ 
and worries of the previous day will 
away, and the mind, strong and yet rest! 
be receptive to spiritual instruction. Indeed,.one 
of the first efforts you will be called upon to m*^ 
will be to shake off lethargy and indulgence^; 
if you refuse you will be unable to advance, 
the demands of the spirit are imperative. 

To be spiritually awakened is also to 
mentally and physically awakened. The 
gard and the self-indulgent can have no khph^l 



edge of Truth. He who, possessed of health 
and strength, wastes the calm, precious hours of 
the silent morning in drowsy indulgence is totally 
unfit to climb the heavenly heights.* 

He whose awakening consciousness has be¬ 
come alive to its lofty possibilities, who is begin¬ 
ning to shake off the darkness of ignorance in 
which the world is enveloped, rises before the stars 
have ceased their Vigil, and, grappling with the 
darkness within his soul, strives, by holy aspira¬ 
tion, to perceive the light of Truth while the un¬ 
awakened world dreams on. 


heights by great men reached and kept, 

Were not attained by sudden flight, 

, But they, while their companions slept. 

Were toiling upward in the night.” 

No saint, no holy man, no teacher of Truth 
ever lived who did not rise early in the morning. 
Jesus habitually rose early, and climbed the 
solitary mountains to engage in holy communion. 
Buddha always rose an hour before sunrise and 
engaged in meditation, and all his disciples were 
enjoined to do the same. 

If you have to commence your daily duties at 
a very early hour, and are thus debarred from 
giving the early morning to systematic medita¬ 
tion, try to give an hour at night, and should 
this, by the length and laboriousness of your daily 



of Meditation 


*7 


task be denied you, you need not despair, for 
you may turn your thoughts upward in holy 
meditation irttthe internals of your work, or in 
those few idle minutes which you now waste in 
aimlessness; and should your work be of that 
kind which becomes by practice automatic, you 
may meditate while engaged upon it. That 
eminent Christian saint and philosopher, Jacob 
Boehme, realized his vast knowledge of divine 
things whilst working long hours as a shoemaker.,. 
In every life there is time to think, and the 
busiest, the most laborious is not shut out from 
aspiration and meditation. 

Spiritual meditation and self-discipline are in¬ 
separable ; you will, therefore, commence to medi¬ 
tate upon yourself so as to try and understand 
yourself, for, remember, the great object you will 
have in view will be the complete removal of all 
your errors in order that you may realize Truth. 
You will begin to question your motives, thoughts, 
and acts, comparing them with your ideal, and 
endeavoring to look upon them with a calm, and 
impartial eye. In this manner you will be con¬ 
tinually gaining more of that mental and spiritual 
equilibrium without which men are but helpless 
straws upon the ocean of life. If you are given 
to hatred or anger you will meditate upon 
gentleness and forgiveness, so as to become 
acutely alive to a sense of your harsh and foolish 





T-u--, 


Peace 


conduct. You will then begin to dwell in 
thoughts of love, of gentleness, of abounding for¬ 
giveness ; and as you overcome the lower by the 
higher, there will gradually, silently steal into your 
bfe^rt a knowledge of the divine Law of Love with 
mding of its bearing upon all the in- 
:ies of life and conduct. And in applying 
tins knowledg&to your every thought, word, and 
Sf act, you will grow more and more gentle, more 
and more loving, more and more divine. And 
0f with every error, every selfish desire, every 
human weakness ; by the power of meditation is 
it overcome, and as each sin, each error is thrust 
ler and clearer measure of the Light of 
h illumines the pilgrim soul. 

$ Thus meditating, you will be ceaselessly fortify- 
g yourself against your only real enemy, your 
lfish, perishable self, and will be establishing 
yourself more and more firmly in the divine and 
.imperishable self that is inseparable from Truth. 
’^^Wirect outcome of your meditations will be a 
// calriL) spiritual strength which will be your stay 
and Testing-place in the struggle of life. Great is 
the overcoming power of holy thought, and the 
strength and knowledge gained in the hour of 
silent meditation will enrich the soul with saving 
remembrance in the hour of strife, of sorrow or 
of temptation. 

As, by the power of meditation, you grow in 



The Power of Meditation 


19 


wisdom, you will relinquish, more and more, 
your selfish desires which are fickle, impermanent, 
and productive of sorrow and pain; and will take 
your stand, with increasing steadfastness and 
trust, upon unchangeable principles, and will 
realize heavenly rest. 

The use of meditation is the acquirement of a 
knowledge of eternal principles, and the power 
which results from meditation is the ability to 
rest upon and trust those principles, and so 
become one with the Eternal. The end of 
meditation is, therefore, direct knowledge of 
Truth, God, and the realization of divine and pro¬ 
found peace. 

Let your meditations take their rise from the 
ethical ground which you now occupy. Remem¬ 
ber that you are to grow into Truth by steady 
perseverance. If you are an orthodox Christian, 
meditate ceaselessly upon the spotless purity and 
divine excellence of the character of Jesus, and 
apply his every precept to your inner life and 
outward conduct, so as to approximate more and 
more towards his perfection. Do not be as those 
religious ones, who, refusing tojmeditate upon 
the Law of Truth, and to put into practice the 
precepts given to them by their Master, are con¬ 
tent to formally worship, to cling to their partic¬ 
ular creeds, and to continue in the ceaseless 
round of sin and suffering. Strive to rise, by the 



power df meditation, abov^ 
p&r£i|f gpdsSr party creeds 
^e?-arl8 lifeless ignorance. 
Highway of wisdgm, with r 

llpess Truthjy^h^ll k: 

short of the realization of Ti 
He who earHesfty \medit 
truth, as it were, ifaf off, ar 


ging to 
rmali- 
walking the 
with mind fixed upon the 
know no halting-place 
bf Truth. 

meditates first perceives a 
off, and then realizes it by 


practice. It is only the doer of the Word 
Truth that can know of the doctrine of Truth, 
though by pure thought the Truth is perceived, 
nly actualized by practice. 

1 the divine Gautama, the Buddha, “He 
himself up to vanity, and does not 
f up to meditation, forgetting the 
life and grasping at pleasure, will in 
ime envy him who has exerted himself in 
editation,” and he instructed his disciples in the 
ollowing “ Five Great Meditations ” : — 

1 The first meditation is the meditation of love, 
which you so adjust your heart that you long 
or the weal and welfare of all beings, including 
the happiness of your enemies. 

“ The second meditation is the meditation of 
pity, in which you think of all beings in distress, 
vividly representing in your imagination their 
orrows and anxieties so as to arouse a deep 
ompassion for them in your soul. 

" The third meditation is the meditation of 



The Power of 

joy, in which you think of 
others, and rejoice with their rejoicings. 

“ The fourth meditation is the 
impurity, in which you consider 
sequences of corruption, the effects 
diseases. How trivial often the pleasure 
moment, and how fatal its consequences. 

“ The fifth meditation is the 
serenity, in which you rise above love and 
tyranny and oppression, wealth and want, 
regard your own fate with impartial 
and perfect tranquillity.” 

By engaging in these meditations 
of the Buddha arrived at a kno 
Truth. But whether you engage in 
ular meditations or not matters little so 
your object is Truth, so long as you h 
thirst for that righteousness which is a holy heart 
and a blameless life. In your meditations, there¬ 
fore, let your heart grow and expand with ever- 
broadening love, until, freed from all hatred, 
and passion, and condemnation, it embraces the 
whole universe with thoughtful tenderness. As 
the flower opens its petals to receive the morn¬ 
ing light, so open your soul more and more to 
the glorious light of Truth. Soar upward upon 
the wings of aspiration ; be fearless, and believe 
in the loftiest possibilities. Believe that a life of 
absolute meekness is possible; believe that a life 


inless purity is possible; believe that a life 
rfect holiness is possible; believe that the 
ealjfcation of the highest truth is possible. He 
who so believes, climbs rapidly the heavenly 
|s, whilst the unbelievers continue to grope 
larfely and painfully in the fog-bound valleys. 

So believing, so aspiring, so meditating, 
^Jiyinely sweet and beautiful will be your 
experiences, and glorious the revelations 
sl§ will enrapture your inward vision. As you 
fceShze the divine Love, the divine Justice, the 
divine Purity, the Perfect Law of Good, or God, 
will be your bliss and deep your peace. 
Old things will pass away, and all things will be¬ 
come new. The veil of the material universe, so 
dense and impenetrable to the eye of error, so 
thin and gauzy to the eye of Truth, will be lifted 
hnd the spiritual universe will be revealed. Time 
will cease, and you will live only in Eternity. 
Change and mortality will no more cause you 
anxiety and sorrow, for you will become estab¬ 
lished in the unchangeable, and will dwell in the 
heart of immortality. 


wyfa 



STAR OF WISDOM 

Star that of the birth of 
Birth of Krishna, 

Told the wise ones, 

Waiting, watching for 1 
In the darkness of the 
In the starless gloom of 
Shining Herald of the 
Of the kingdom of the righteous; 

Teller of the Mystic story 
Of the lowly birth of Godhead 
In the stable of the passions, 

In the manger of the mind-soul; 

Silent singer of the secret 
Of compassion deep and holy 
To the heart with sorrow burdened, 

To the soul with waiting weary : — 

Star of all-surpassing brightness, 

Thou again dost deck the midnight; 
Thou again dost cheer the wise ones 
Watching in the creedal darkness, 
Weary of the endless battle 
With the grinding blades of errors; 
Tired of lifeless, useless idols, 

Of the dead forms of religions ; 

Spent with watching for thy shining; 
Thou hast ended their despairing; 

Thou has lighted up their pathway ; 
Thou hast brought again the old Truths 
To the hearts of all thy Watchers ; 

To the souls of them that love thee 
Thou dost speak of Joy and Gladness, 



"Blessec 
In the! 
Of a d< 
By the 
Let us 
Learn 
Learn 


Space that 

*are they that cansl^^^^e; 
waftderers in the Nig^Umfe 
^they who feel the throDDm^ 
shospm s feel the pulsing 
ep L^v^fv^irred within them 
of thy shining, 
hsss^n truly; 
t ^affih^nHCand humbly; 
t meel&yj^wisely, gladly, 

: Star dfhgjy Vishnu, 


Light of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus. 


I 



Upon the battle-field of the h 
masters are ever contending for 
supremacy, for the kingship and 
the heart; the master of 
“Prince of this world,” and 
called also the Father God* The master 
that rebellious one whose weapons are 
pride, avarice, vanity, self-will, implements 
darkness; the master Truth is that 
lowly one whose weapons are gentleness, 
purity, sacrifice, humility, love, instru 
Light. 

In every soul the battle is waged, and as 
soldier cannot engage at once in two 
armies, so every heart is enlisted either in 
ranks of self or of Truth. There is no 
half course; “ There is self and there is 
where self is, Truth is not, where Truth * 
not.” Thus spake Buddha, the teacher of 
and Jesus, the manifested Christ, declared tha 
“No man can serve two masters ; for either 
will hate the one and love the other ; or else 
will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye 
cannot serve God and Mammon.” 

25 


26 





te Way of Peace 

'■??$£ M 

Truth is so simple, so absolutely undeviating 
and uncompromising that it admits of no com¬ 
plexity, no turning, no qualification. Self is in¬ 
genious, crooked, and, governed by subtle and 
snaky desire, admits of endless turnings and 
qualifications, and the deluded worshipers of 
vainly imagine that they can gratify every 
worldly desire, and at the same time possess the 
Truth. But the lovers of Truth worship Truth 
with the sacrifice of self, and ceaselessly guard 
themselves against worldliness and self-seek¬ 
ing. 

Do yoq seek to know and to realize Truth ? 
Then you must be prepared to sacrifice, to re- 
nouh^the uttermost, for Truth in all its 
glory can only be perceived and known when 
the last vestige of self has disappeared. 

The eternal Christ declared that he who 
would be his disciple must “ deny himself daily.” 
Are you willing to deny yourself, to give up 
your lusts, your prejudices, your opinions? If 
so, you may enter the narrow way of Truth, and 
find that peace from which the world is shut 
out. The absolute denial, the utter extinction, 
of self is the perfect state of Truth, and all re¬ 
ligions and philosophies are but so many aids to 
this supreme attainment. 

Self is the denial of Truth. Truth is the 
denial of self. As you let self die, you will be 


fjM 


The Two Masters , Self and Truth 27 

reborn in Truth. As you cling tb self, Truth 
will be hidden from you. 

Whilst you cling to self, your path will be 
beset with difficulties, and repeated pains, sor¬ 
rows, and disappointments will be your lot. 
There are no difficulties in Truth, and coming to 
Truth, you will be freed from all sorrow and 
disappointment. 

Truth in itself is not hidden and dark. It is 
always revealed and is perfectly transparent. 
But the blind and wayward self cannot perceive 
it. The light of day is not hidden except to the 
blind, and the Light of Truth is not hidden 
except to those who are blinded by self. 

Truth is the one Reality in the universe, the 
inward Harmony, the perfect Justice, the eternal 
Love. Nothing can be added to it, nor taken 
from it. It does not depend upon any man, but 
all men depend upon it. You cannot perceive 
the beauty of Truth while you are looking out 
through the eyes of self. If you are vain, you 
will color everything with your own vanities. If 
lustful, your heart and mind will be so clouded 
with the smoke and flames of passion, that every¬ 
thing will appear distorted through them. If 
proud and opinionative, you will see nothing in 
the whole universe except the magnitude and 
importance of your own opinions. 

There is one quality which preeminently 


28 


The Way of Peace 


distinguishes the man of Truth from the man of 
self, and that is humility. To be not only free 
from vanit/y, stubbornness and egotism, but to 
regard one’s own opinions as of no value, this 
indeed is true humility. 

He who is immersed in self regards his own 
opinions as Truth, and the opinions of other 
men as error. But that humble Truth-lover 
who has learned to distinguish between opinion 
and Truth, regards all men with the eye of 
charity, and does not seek to defend his opinions 
ag3g$^ theirs, but sacrifices those opinions that 
love tjj£ more, that he may manifest the 
^of Truth, for Truth in its very nature is 
r ' ineffable ittfjk can only be lived. He who has 
' , rhost Of c^krity has most of Truth. 

engage in heated controversies, and fool- 
imagine they are defending the Truth, 
l^when in reality they are merely defending their 
^bwn petty interests and perishable opinions. The 
r? riP&ilowei* of self takes up arms against others, 
fertile follower of Truth takes up arms against 
^^i^^l'^T^uth, being unchangeable and eternal, 
is independent of your opinion and of mine. We 
enter into it, or we may stay outside; but 
• "both om^dpfjense an d our attack are superfluous, 
-4 upon ourselves. 




to 


self, passionate, proud, and 
eve their particular creed or 


The Two Masters , Self and Truth 29 



religion to be the Truth, and all other religions 
to be error; and they proselytize with passionate 
ardor. There is but one religion, the religion 
of Truth. There is but one error, the error of 
self. Truth is not a formal belief; it is an 
unselfish, holy, and aspiring heart, and he who 
has Truth is at peace with all, and cherishes all 
with thoughts of love. 

You may easily know whether you are a 
child of Truth or a worshiper of -self, if you 
will silently examine your mind, heart, and 
conduct. Do you harbor thoughts 
picion, enmity, envy, lust, pri 
strenuously fight against these ? 
you are chained to self, no 
ligion you may profess; if the 
a candidate for Truth, even though ou 
you may profess no religion. Are you 
sionate, self-willed, ever seeking to gain your 
own ends, self-indulgent, and self-centred; 
are you gentle, mild, unselfish, quit of 
form of self-indulgence, and are 
give up your own ? If the 
master; if the latter, Truth is 
your affection. Do you strive for riches 
you fight, with passion, for 
you lust for power and 
given to ostentation and 
you given up the love 





relinq. 
take 1 


The Way of Peace 


' .... 






f d ai^r strife? Are you content to 
lowest place, and to be passed by 
? And have you ceased to talk 
out yourself and to regard yourself with self- 
ilacent pride ? If the former, even though 
i may imagine you worship God, the god of 
r heart is self. If the latter, even though 
f _ „ .nay withhold your lips from worship, you 
celling with the Most High. 

He signs by which the Truth-lover is known 
unmistakable. Hear the Holy Krishna 
f|Jiem, in Sir Edwin Arnold’s beautiful 
of the “ Bhavagad Gita ” : — 


dss, singleness of soul, the will 
Jto strive for wisdom; opened hand 
iverned appetites; and piety, 
love of lonely study ; humbleness, 
prightness, heed to injure nought which lives 
Truthfulness, slowness unto wrath, a mind 
That lightly letteth go what others prize ; 

And equanimity, and charity 

Which spieth no man’s faults; and tenderness 


Towards all that suffer; a contented heart, 
Fluttered by no desires; a bearing mild, 
Modest and grave, with manhood nobly mixed, 
With patience, fortitude and purity; 

An unrevengeful spirit, never given 
To rate itself too high—such be the signs, 

O Indian Prince! of him whose feet are set 
On that fair path which leads to heavenly 
birth! ” 






WhM? menV" f fos|t i ;in the devioup^vay^ 4 |rerror 
and sSf, hav^faf gotten the “ heavenly birth,” 
the state of holiness and Truth; they set up 

^ » 3 ge one anptfrer^ 


Mm 


y 


artificial standards by whiclj 
and make acceptance o|, ^tid^adh^rence to, their 
own particular theology^the; tesjt of Truth ; and 
so men are divided onq' 4g^*st another, and 
there is ceaseless enmity ai)d strife, and unend¬ 
ing sorrow and suffering. 

Reader, do you seek to realize the birth into 
Truth ? There is only one way : Let 
All those lusts, appetites, desires, opinions, lijnited 
conceptions and prejudices to which you liav't? 
hitherto so tenaciously clung, let them fall from 
you. Let them no longer hold you ih bondage, 
and Truth will be yours. Cease to look uptiti{ ( 
your own religion as superior to all others, aiid 
strive humbly to learn the supreme lesson of 
charity. No longer cling to the idea, so prodytgj; 
tive of strife and sorrow, that the Saviour w}i6jp$ 
you worship is the only Saviour, and that the 
Saviour whom your brother worships with equal 
sincerity and ardor, is an impostor; but seek 
diligently the path of holiness, and then you 
will realize that every holy man is a saviour of 
mankind. 

The giving up of self is not merely the renunj 
ciation of outward things. It consists of the 
renunciation of the inward sin, the inward error. 






he Way of Peace 



giving up vain clothing ; not by relinquish¬ 
es, not by abstaining from certain food ; 
speaking smooth words; not by merely 
these things is the Truth found; but by 
ng up the spirit of vanity; by relinquishing 
desire for riches; by abstaining from the lust 
self-indulgence; by giving up all hatred, strife, 
nation, and self-seeking, and becoming 
and pure at heart; by doing these things 
Truth found. To do the former, and not 
the latter, is pharisaism and hypocrisy, 
ereas the latter includes the former. You 
y renounce the outward world, and isolate 
in a cave or in the depths of a forest, 
you will take all your selfishness with you, 
unless you renounce that, great indeed will 
your wretchedness and deep your delusion, 
u may remain just where you are, performing 
your duties, and yet renounce the world, the 
enemy. To be in the world and yet not 
world is the highest perfection, the most 
peace, is to achieve the greatest victory, 
renunciation of self is the way of Truth, 
ore, 

“ Enter the Path ; there is no grief like hate, 

No pain like passion, no deceit like sense; 

Enter the Path; far hath he gone whose foot 
Treads down one fond offense.” 



The Two Masters , 


As you succeed in overcoming self 
begin to see things in their right 
who is swayed by any passion, pr 
dislike, adjusts everything to that 
and sees only his own delusions. He 
absolutely free from all passion, prejudice, 
erence, and partiality, sees himself as he ' 
others as they are; sees all things in 
proportions and right relations. Having 
to attack, nothing to defend, nothing to 
and no interests to guard, he is at 
has realized the profound simplicity of 
this unbiased, tranquil, blessed state 
and heart is the state of Truth. He w 
to it dwells with the angels, and sits 
stool of the Supreme. Knowing the Great 
knowing the origin of sorrow; knowing the secret 
of suffering; knowing the way of emancipation 
in Truth, how can such a one engage in strife or 
condemnation; for though he knows that the 
blind, self-seeking world, surrounded with the 
clouds of its own illusions, and enveloped in the 
darkness of error and self, cannot perceive the 
steadfast Light of Truth, and is utterly incapable 
of comprehending the profound simplicity of the 
heart that has died, or is dying, to self, yet he 
also knows that when the suffering ages have 
piled up mountains of sorrow, the crushed and 
burdened soul of the world will fly to its final 



34 


The Way of Peace 


refuge, and that when the ages are completed, 
every prodigal will come back to the fold of 
Truth. And so he dwells in goodwill towards 
all, and regards all with that tender compassion 
which a father bestows upon his wayward 
children. 

Men cannot understand Truth because they 
cling to self, because they believe in and love 
self, because they believe self to be the only 
reality, whereas it is the one delusion. 

When you cease to believe in and love self 
ypu Will desert it, and will fly to Truth, and will 
find Mie eternal Reality. 

When men are intoxicated with the wines of 
luxury, and pleasure, and vanity, the thirst of life 
grows, and deepens within them, and they delude 
themselves with dreams of fleshly immortality, 
but when they come to reap the harvest of their 
own sowing, and pain and sorrow supervene, 
then, crushed and humiliated, relinquishing self 
and all the intoxications of self, they come, with 
aching hearts to the one immortality, the im- 
that destroys all delusions, the spiritual 
immortality in Truth. 

Men pass, ir pm evil to good, from self to 
uth ? throug^x^e dark gate of sorrow, for sor- 
iuw and self are inseparable. Only in the peace 
and bliss of Truth is all sorrow vanquished. If 
you suffer disappointment because your cher- 






The 












. /for 

Ttr ^ Jigs 

and Truth 35 

___» , M/ff S^wM 

ished plans hay£ .been thwarted* or" because 
some one h^not comerup to your anticipations, 
it is because you are clinging to self. If y6u- ( 
suffer remorse for your conduct, it is because you. 
have given way to self. If you are overwhelmed 
with chagrin and regret because of the attitude 
of some one else towards you, it is because you 
have been cherishing self. If you are woundup 
on account of what has been done to you or said 
of you, it is because you are walking in the < 
painful way of self. All suffering is of self. All 
suffering ends in Truth. When you have 
entered into and realized Truth, you will; iloti 
longer suffer disappointment, remorse, and 
gret, and sorrow will flee from you. 

“ Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul; 

Truth is the only angel that can bid the gates unroll; 

And when he comes to call thee, arise and follow fast 
His way may lie through darkness, but it leads to 
last.” 

The woe of the world is of its own making 
Sorrow purifies and deepens the soul, and the 
extremity of sorrow is the prelude to Truth. 

Have you suffered much? Have you sor¬ 
rowed deeply? Have you pondered serious}^ 
upon the problem of life ? If so, you are pre¬ 
pared to wage war against self, and to become a 
disciple of Truth. 

The intellectual who do not see the necessity 








about 
: do 
ch is 

practice of righteousness, and thou wilt 
the Truth which has no place in theory, 
ich never changes. Cultivate your heart, 
it continually with unselfish love and 
felt pity, and strive to shut out from it all 
ts and feelings which are not in accord- 
th Love. Return good for evil, love for 
gentleness for ill-treatment, and remain 
t when attacked. So shall you transmute 
selfish desires into the pure gold of 
, and self will disappear in Truth. So will 
walk blamelessly amongst men, yoked with 
easy yoke of lowliness, and clothed with the 
garment of humility. 





The Two 



O come, weary 
End thou in the 

Across self’s drear desert why wilt thou 
Athirst for the quickening waters of Truth 

When here, by the path of thy searching and sinning, 
Flows Life’s gladsome stream, lies Love’s oasis green ? 
Come, turn thou and rest; know the end and beginning, 
The sought and the searcher, the seer and seen. 

Thy Master sits not in the unapproached mountains, 

Nor dwells in the mirage which floats on the air, 

Nor shalt thou discover his magical fountains 
In pathways of sand that encircle despair. 

In selfhood’s dark desert cease wearily seeking 
The odorous tracks of the feet of thy King; 

And if thou wouldst hear the sweet sound of his 
Be deaf to all voices that emptily sing. 

Flee the vanishing places ; renounce all thou hast; 

Leave all that thou lovest, and, naked and bare, 
Thyself at the shrine of the innermost cast; 

The Highest, the Holiest, the Changeless is 

Within, in the heart of the Silence he dwelleth ; 

Leave sorrow and sin, leave thy wanderings 
Come bathe in his Joy, whilst he, whispering, 

Thy soul what it seeketh, and wander no more. 

Then cease, weary brother, thy struggling and 
Find peace in the heart of the Master of ruth ; 

Across seifs dark desert cease wearily driving; 

Come ; drink at the beautiful waters of Truth. 



HE ACQUIREMENT OF SPIRITUAL 
POWER 

The world is filled with men and women seek¬ 
ing pleasure, excitement, novelty; seeking ever 
be moved to laughter or tears; not seeking 
strength, stability, and power; but courting 
kness, and eagerly engaged in dispersing 
power they have. 

en and women of real power and influence 
few, because few are prepared to make the 
rifijje necessary to the acquirement of power, 
^ fewer still are ready to patiently build up 
racter. 

To be swayed by your fluctuating thoughts 
afrd impluses is to be weak and powerless; to 
rightly control and direct those forces is to be 
' strong and powerful. Men of strong animal 
passions have much of the ferocity of the beast, 
'^|#ut this is not power. The elements of power 
h^e there; but it is only when this ferocity is 
IsjUf^ed and subdued by the higher intelligence 
that real power begins; and men can only grow 
(M power by awakening themselves to higher and 
ever higher states of intelligence and conscious¬ 
ness. 


38 


The Acquirement of Spiritual Power 39 


The difference between a man of weakness 
and one of power lies not in the strength of the 
personal will (for the stubborn man is usually 
weak and foolish), but in that focus of conscious¬ 
ness which represents their states of knowl¬ 
edge. 

The pleasure-seekers, the lovers of excitement, 
the hunters after novelty, and the victims of im¬ 
pulse and hysterical emotion lack that knowl¬ 
edge of principles which gives balance, stability, 
and influence. 

A man commences to develop power when, 
checking his impulses and selfish inclinations/ h 
falls back upon the higher and calm? 
sciousness within him, and 
himself upon a principle. 

The realization of unchanging prfnc 
consciousness is at once the source and sdc 
the highest power. 

When, after much searching, and suffering, ar 
sacrificing, the light of an eternal 
dawns upon the soul, a divine calrn-^nsues 
joy unspeakable gladdens the heart. 7^'% 

He who has realized such a prii 
wander, and remains poised and self-j 
He ceases to be " passion's slave^’. and becomes 
a master-builder in the Temple of Destiny** ^ 

The man that is governed by self, and not by 
a principle, changes his front 






*Q3>. 


upon 


uarding his owh he re- 

all means as lawfuf that wilts,u>bsef%e that 
^He is continually scheming as to how he 
protect himself against his enemies, being 
•top ^elf-centred to perceive that he is his own 
enem N y. Such a man’s work crumbles away, for 
it is divorced from Truth and power. All effort 
' *s grounded upon self, perishes; only that 
endures that is built upon an indestructible 
iple. 

e man that stands upon a principle is the 
aim, dauntless, self-possessed man under 
rcumstances. When the hour of trial 
and he has to decide between his 
onal comforts and Truth, he gives up his 
forts and remains firm. Even the prospect 
torture and death cannot alter or deter him. 
K e man of self regards the loss of his wealth, 
orts, or his life as the greatest calamities 
befall him. The man of principle 
ks upon these incidents as comparatively in- 
ificant, and not to be weighed with loss of 
cn,afacter, loss of Truth. To desert Truth is, to 
1m, the only happening which can really be 
ed a calamity. 

is the hour of crisis which decides who are 
minions of darkness, and who the children of 
Light. It is the epoch of threatening disaster, 




whicli-divides the §|| 
reverential 
ks the men and. women of 


The Acquirement 
ruin, and « 


from 

gaze of su 
power 

It is easy'for a man, so long as he is left in ttye 
enjoyment of his possessions, to pe~ 
self that he believes in and adheres to“ 
pies of Peace, Brotherhood, an 
but if, when his enjoyments an 
imagines they are threatened, 


r£rsal Love; 
ireatened, 
he begin£. 10 
clamor loudly for war, he shows that he believes 
in and stands upon, not Peace, Brotherhood, as 
Love, but strife, selfishness, and hatred. 

He who does not desert his princi , pl^s^yjie% 
threatened with the loss of every earthly thin, 
even to the loss of reputation and life, iS@ 
man of power; is the man whose every wo 
and work endures ; is the man whom the aft 
world honors, reveres, and worships. Rath 
than desert that principle of Divine Love 
which he rested, and in which all his trust 
placed, Jesus endured the utmost extreim^ Vv bA 
agony and deprivation; and to-day tl^fworl 
prostrates itself at his pierced feet in rapt adora 
tion. 

There is no way to the acquirement 
spiritual power except that inward illuminati 
and enlightenment which is the realization 
spiritual principles; and those principles can 


K)r± 



42 




Way of Peace 

constant practice and appli- 


the principle of divine Love, and quietly 
and diligently meditate upon it with the object 
of proving at a thorough understanding of it. 
Bring its searching light to bear upon all your 
habits, your actions, your speech and intercourse 
with others, your every secret thought and de¬ 
sire. you persevere in this course, the divine 
LqVe will become more and more perfectly re¬ 
vealed to you, and your own shortcomings will 
stand out in more and more vivid contrast, spur¬ 
ring you on to renewed endeavor; and having 


once 


yuv,'- caught a glimpse of the incomparable 
majesty of that imperishable principle, you will 

npvpr acrain in vnur \rnnr 


never again rest in your weakness, your selfish¬ 
ness, your imperfection, but will pursue that 
Love until you have relinquished every dis¬ 
cordant element, and have brought yourself into 
perfect harmony with it. And that state of 
inward harmony is spiritual power. Take also 
other spiritual principles, such as Purity and 
Compassion, and apply them in the same way, 
and, so exacting is Truth, you will be able to 
make no stay, no resting-place until the inmost 
garment of your soul is bereft of every stain, and 
your heart has become incapable of any hard, 
condemnatory, and pitiless impulse. 

Only in so far as you understand, realize, and 




The Acquirement of Spiritual 


rely upon, these principles, wn 
spiritual power, and that power will be ifer : 
tested in and through you in the form/^fi 
creasing dispassion, patience and equanimity. 

Dispassion argues superior self-control si 
lime patience is the very hall-mark of divine 
knowledge, and to retain an unbroken /k 
amid all the duties and distractions of lif^gj 
marks off the man of power. “ It is easy 
the world to live after the world's opinio^ 
is easy in solitude to live after our own^bi 
the great man is he who in the midst og the;' 
crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the inde¬ 
pendence of solitude." 

Some mystics hold that perfection in dispassion 
is the source of that power by which miracj| 
(so-called) are performed, and truly he who has 
gained such perfect control of all his interior 
forces that no shock, however great, can for one 
moment unbalance him, must be capable 
guiding and directing those forces with a master^ 
hand. , ' - 

To grow in self-control, in patience, in 
nimity, is to grow in strength and power^ajjd; 
you can only thus grow by focussing your q 
sciousness upon a principle. As a child, after 
making many and vigorous attempts to walk^ 
unaided, at last succeeds, after numerous falls, in; 
accomplishing this, so you must enter the 

p ’ 




to stand alone, 
orcustom, tradition, 


Break ^Lw^y from t 

coayeritionairfcy, and the^pkifons of others, until 
you succeed in walking lonely and erect amongst 
men. Rely upon your own judgment; be true 
fo your own conscience; follow the Light that is 
within you; all outward lights are so many will- 
o’-the-wisps. There will be those who will tell 
you that you are foolish; that your judgment is 
faulty; that your conscience is all awry, and that 
the Light within you is darkness; but heed them 
not} If what they say is true the sooner you, 
as a searcher for wisdom, find it out the better, 
you can only make the discovery by bring- 


^Thg }pur powers to the test. Therefore, pursue 
ygrar "course bravely. Your conscience is at least 
your own, and to follow it is to be a man; to 


follow the conscience of another is to be a slave. 
YoU will have many falls, will suffer many wounds, 
will endure many buffetings for a time, but press 
oit' ih faith, believing that sure and certain victory 
IP ahead. Search for a rock, a principle, and 
jhaving found it cling to it; get it under your 
feet and stand erect upon it, until at last, im¬ 
movably fixed upon it, you succeed in defying the 
‘/^US§* y t ^ ie waves an d storms of selfishness. 

For selfishness in any and every form is dis¬ 
sipation, weakness, death; unselfishness in its 
spiritual aspect is conservation, power, life. As 





you grow in spin 
upon principles, 
and as unchang 
of the sweetness of their 
will realize the eternal and indestructible 
of the God within. 




46 


The Way of Peace 


No harmful shaft can reach the righteous man, 
Standing erect amid the storms of hate, 
Defying hurt and injury and ban, 

Surrounded by the trembling slaves of Fate. 



Majestic in the strength of silent power, 

Serene he stands, nor changes not nor turns; 
Patient and firm in suffering’s darkest hour, 

Time bends to him, and death and doom he spurns. 


round about him play, 
thunders roll about his head; 
not, for him they cannot slay 
whence earth and time and space are fled. 

by deathless love, what fear hath he ? 
rmored in changeless Truth, what can he know 
and gain ? Knowing eternity. 

He moves not whilst the shadows come and go. 

Call him immortal, call him Truth and Light 
And splendor of prophetic majesty 

thus amid the powers of night, 
the glory of divinity. 


THE REALIZATION OF SELFLESS 
LOVE 


It is said that Michael Angelo saw in every* 
rough block of stone a thing of beauty awaitij 
the master-hand to bring it into reality, 
so, within each there reposes the divine Ii 
awaiting the master-hand of Faith and the 
of Patience to bring it into manifestation. Am 
that divine Image is revealed and realized 
stainless, selfless Love. 

Hidden deep in every human heart, thou| 
frequently covered up with a mass of hard a 
almost impenetrable accretions, is the spirit 
divine Love, whose holy and spotless essence^’ 
undying and eternal. It is the Truth in man; 
it is that which belongs to the Supreme: tM^ ; 
which is real and immortal. All else changdfj? 
passes away; this alone is permanent andl 
perishable ; and to realize this Love by ceasele^ 
diligence in the practice of the highest righteous¬ 
ness, to live in it and to become fully conscious 
in it, is to enter into immortality here and now, 
is to become one with Truth, one with God, one^ 
with the central Heart of all things, and to knp^ 
our own divine and eternal nature. $ 

47 




of Peace 


and ex- 
|;pejsistency 
;»pon his'" must 

his patience aSdMSfep^trong his 
for there will be much to remove, much to 
^ jiccbmplis^^efore the divine image is revealed in 
-Salk i^.gidrim^ 3 beauty. 

who ‘-strives to reach and to accomplish 
^divine will t^e'tried to the very uttermost; 
his is absolutely necessary, for how else 
one acquire that sublime patience without 
there is no real wisdom, no divinity ? 
er and anon, as he proceeds, all his work will 
;p£ibe futile, and his efforts appear to be 
n away. Now and then a hasty touch will 
his image, and perhaps when he imagines 
work is almost completed he will find what 
imagined to be the beautiful form of Divine 
ove utterly destroyed, and he must begin again 
✓'with his past bitter experience to guide and help 
. him.. But he who has resolutely set himself to 
^realize the Highest recognizes no such thing as 
defeat:* 5 All failures are apparent, not real. 
Every slip, every fall, every return to selfishness 
is a lesson learned, an experience gained, from 
^ : >which a golden grain of wisdom is extracted, 
helping the striver towards the accomplishment 
v of his lofty object. To recognize 





11 but tread 
:h deed of shame,” 


is to eater the way that leads unmistakal 
wards the Divine, and the failings of one who 
recognizes are so many dead selves, upon whicl 
rises, as upon stepping-stones, to higher thii 
Once come to regard your failings, youi 
rows and sufferings as so many voices te 
you plainly where you are weak and fa 
where you fall below the true and the 
you will then begin to ceaselessly watch y 
and every slip, every pang of pain will shoA 
where you are to set to work, and whatj 
have to remove out of your heart in orde^ 
bring it nearer to the likeness of the 
nearer to the Perfect Love. And as you pi 
ceed, day by day detaching yourself more ai 
more from the inward selfishness, the Love .that 
is selfless will gradually become revealed to yd 
And when you are growing patient inff^cafi 
when your petulances, tempers, and irritability 
are passing away from you, and the more pOA 
ful lusts and prejudices cease to dominate a^u 
enslave you, then you will know that the divinej 
is awakening within you, that you are drawing 
near to the eternal Heart, that you are not 
from that selfless Love, the possession of which is 
peace and immortality. 




Peace 

‘ied from human 
ticular, it is 


. supremely , 

partiality. Huifia^Wes^Jing to a 
:icular object to the exclusion of all else, and 
ject is removed, great and deep is 
.suffering to the one who loves. 
:mbraces the whole universe, and, 
;o any part, yet contains 
, and he who comes to it 
^dually purifying and broadening his human 
mtil all the selfish and impure elements are 
Jned out of them, ceases from suffering. It is 
i.uman loves are narrow and confined 
with selfishness that they cause suf- 
No suffering can result from that Love 
is so absolutely pure that it seeks nothing 
itself. Nevertheless, human loves are abso- 
t\y necessary as steps towards the Divine, and 
soul is prepared to partake of divine Love 
@^t has become capable of the deepest and 
itense human love. It is only^by passing 
throu^tr*human loves and human sufferings that 
f’aivine'Hove is reached and realized. 

All human loves are perishable like the forms 
^ which they cling; but there is a Love that is 
nperishable, and that does not cling to appear¬ 
ances. 

All human loves are counterbalanced by 
human hates; but there is a Love that admits of 



5i 


The Realization of Selfless Love 

no opposite or reaction; divine and free from all 
taint of self, that sheds its fragrance on all 
alike. 

Human loves are reflections of the divine 
Love, and draw the soul nearer to the reality, 
the Love that knows neither sorrow nor 
change. 

It is well that the mother, clinging with pas¬ 
sionate tenderness to the little helpless form of 
flesh that lies on her bosom, should be over¬ 
whelmed with the dark waters of sorrow when 
she sees it laid in the cold earth. It is well that 
her tears should flow and her heart ache, for 
only thus can she be reminded of the evanescent 
nature of the joys and objects of sense, and be 
drawn nearer to the eternal and imperishable 
Reality. 

It is well that lover, brother, sister, husband, 
wife should suffer deep anguish, and be en¬ 
veloped in gloom when the visible object of 
their affections is torn from them, so that they 
may leanrto turn their affections towards the in¬ 
visible Source of all, where alone abiding satis¬ 
faction is to be found. 

It is well that the proud, tlxe ambitious, the 
self-seeking, should suffer defeat, humiliation, 
and misfortune; that they should pass through 
the scorching fires of affliction; for only thus 
can the wayward soul be brought to reflect upon 



softeiied and purified 

^V' \5/hen thesti&g of anguish 
hear) of human % 
irid desertion(3j|> 

Trust, then it is t 
sheltering love o 
silent peace. Am 
e is not turned 


penetrates the 
-when gloom and loneliness 
soul of friendship and 
4the heart turns towards the 
Eternal, and finds rest in 
whosoever comes to this 
away comfortless, is not 
Jced with anguish nor surrounded with gloom ; 
never deserted in the dark hour of trial, 
glory of divine Love can only be revealed 
leart that is chastened by sorrow, and the 
heavenly state can only be perceived 
when the lifeless, formless accretions 
>f ignorance and self are hewn away. 

Only tfrat Love that seeks no personal grati- 
ication or reward, that does not make distinc- 
ins, and that leaves behind no heartaches, can 
called divine. 

Men, clinging to self and to the comfortless 
shadows of evil, are in the habit of thinking of 
divine Love as something belonging to a God 
who is out of reach; as something outside them- 
iv ^r> A selves, and that must forever remain outside. 

r , the Love of God is ever beyond the reach 
>f self, but when the heart and mind are emptied 
self then the selfless Love, the supreme Love, 




The Realization of Si 

¥ 

the Love that is of God or Good 
inward and abiding reality. 

And this inward realization of hoi 
none other than the Love of Christ that 
much talked about and so little complehe] 

The Love that not only saves the soul frori 
but lifts it also above the power of temptation,. 

But how may one attain to thi^ 
realization ? The answer which Truth 
ways given, and will ever give to this ( 
is,—“ Empty thyself, and I will fill 
Divine Love cannot be known until sej^ 
for self is the denial of Love, and how^dah that 
which is known be also denied ? Not until • 
stone of self is rolled away from the sepuk 
the soul does the immortal Christ, th 
Spirit of Love, hitherto crucified, dead and 
cast off the bands of ignorance, and come forth 
in all the majesty of His resurrection. 

You believe that the Christ of Nazareth was 
put to death and rose again. I do not say you 
err in that belief; but if you refuse to believe 
that the gentle spirit of Love is crucified daily 
upon the dark cross of your selfish desires, then, 
I say, you err in this unbelief, and have not yet 
perceived, even afar off, the Love of Christ. 

You say that you have tasted of salvation in 
the Love of Christ. Are you saved from your 
temper, your irritability, your vanity, your per- 




54 


The Way of Peace 





sonal dislikes, your judgment and condemnation 
of others? If not, from what are you saved, 
and/wherein have you realized the transforming 
Love of Christ? 

He who has realized the Love that is divine 
}ias become a new man, and has ceased to be 
swayed and dominated by the old elements of 
s§lf. He is known for his patience, his purity, 
his self-control, his deep charity of heart, and his 
unalterable sweetness. 

^Divine or selfless Love is not a mere senti¬ 
ment or emotion; it is a state of knowledge 
. which destroys the dominion of evil and the 

belief in evil, and lifts the soul into the joyful 
; realization of the supreme Good. To the 
divinely wise, knowledge and Love are one and 
inseparable. 

|jj j>; ; It is towards the complete realization of this 

divine Love that the whole world is moving; 
' ft' was for this purpose that the universe came 
into* existence, and every grasping at happiness, 
every reaching out of the soul towards objects, 
ideas and ideals, is an effort to realize it. But 
the world does not realize this Love at present 
because it is grasping at the fleeting shadow 
and ignoring, in its blindness, the substance. 
And so suffering and sorrow continue, and must 




.Lv 


"iff 






. continue until the world, taught by its self- 

4 inflicted pains, discovers the Love that is self- 

I V 


less, 

peace. 


The Realization of Selfless Love 
the \yisd.Qhi that is calm and 

t£> 


full 


55 

of 


And tJiis Lo\fe> tfiis Wisdom, this Peace, Wis 
tranquil state of mind and heart may be attained 
to, may be realized by all who are willing and 
ready to yield up self, and who afe prepared to 
humbly enter into a comprehension of all that 
the giving up of self involves. There is no 
arbitrary power in the universe^and the strongest 
chains of fate by which men are bound are self- 
forged. Men are chained to that which causes 
suffering because they desire to be so, because 
they love their chains, because they think their 
little dark prison of self is sweet and beautiful, 
and they are afraid that if they desert that 
prison they will lose all that is real and worth 
having. 

“Ye suffer from yourselves, none else compels, 

None other holds ye that ye live and die.” 


And the indwelling power which forged the 
chains and built around itself the dark and 
narrow prison, can break away when it desires 
and wills to do so, and the soul does will to do 
so when it has discovered the worthlessness of its 
prison, when long suffering has prepared' it for 
the reception of the boundless Light and Love. 

As the shadow follows the form, and as smoke 
comes after fire, so effect follows cause, and 
suffering and bliss follow the thoughts and deeds 



around 


d that 


l^ias itl^hidden or i 
accordance 

reap a (Harvest of suffering because in the 
t or distant jxjlgthey have sown the seeds of 
, they rec®h^'^Vvdst of bliss also as a result 
their own Jbf the seeds of good. Let 


a man meditate^twdp)! this, let him strive to 
understand it, and l^e^ill then begin to sow only 
of good, and will burn up the tares and 
s which he has formerly grown in the garden 
heart. 

world does not understand the Love that 
because it is engrossed in the pursuit 
pleasures, and cramped within the nar- 
limits of perishable interests, mistaking, in its 
norancgrthose pleasures and interests for real 
d abidihg things. Caught in the flames of 
fleshly lusts, and burning with anguish, it sees 
the pure and peaceful beauty of Truth. 
Heeding upon the swinish husks of error and 
-delusion, it is shut out from the mansion of 
all-seeing Love. 

Not having this Love, not understanding it, 
men institute innumerable reforms which involve 
no inward sacrifice, and each imagines that his 
Reform is going to right the world forever, 
hilst he himself continues to propagate evil by 
ngaging in it in his own heart. That only can 



rom aei 


The Realization 

be called 
human l^ea^r^t/i 
until the 

party strif©phaf ss iS&* i 3ed the lesson 
Love, will it realize the Golden Age of univeri 
blessedness. 

Let the rich cease to despise the ,p6§ 
poor to condemn the rich; let th^Jp^edy 
how to give, and the lustful ho.W to grow p 
let the partisan cease from strife, and 
uncharitable begin to forgive; let the en 
endeavor to rejoice with others, and the sland 
grow ashamed of their conduct. Let men 
women take this course, and, lo! 

Age is at hand. He, therefore, who 
his own heart is the world’s greatest 
factor. 

Yet, though the world is, and will be 
many ages to come, shut out from that Age 
Gold, which is the realization of selfless Love,', 
you, if you are willing, may enter it now, layl 
rising above your selfish self; if you will/pa$ 
from prejudice, hatred, and condemnafio^, tc*-;; v 
gentle and forgiving love 

Where hatred, dislike, and condemnation are 
selfless Love does not abide. It resides only 
the heart that has ceased from all conde 
nation. 

You say, “ How can I love the drunkard, the 


58 The Way of Peace 

•' ■ 

hypocrite, the sneak, the murderer? I am com¬ 
pelled to dislike and condemn such men.” It is 
true you cannot love such men emotionally , but 
when you say that you must perforce dislike and 
condemn them you show that you are not ac¬ 
quainted with the Great over-ruling Love; for it is 
possible to attain to such a state of interior en¬ 
lightenment as will enable you to perceive the 
train of causes by which these men have become 
as they are, to enter into their intense sufferings, 
and to know the certainty of their ultimate 
purification. Possessed of such knowledge it 
will be utterly impossible for you any longer to 
dislike or condemn them, and you will always 
think of them with perfect calmness and deep 
’ cotiTpa^sibfi. 

If you love people and speak of them with 
praise until they in some way thwart you, or do 
something of which you disapprove, and then 
you dislike them and speak of them with dis¬ 
praise, you are not governed by the Love which is 
of God. If, in your heart, you are continually 
arraigning and condemning others, selfless Love 
is hidden from you. 

He who knows that Love is at the heart of all 
things, and has realized the all-sufficing power of 
that Love, has no room in his heart for con¬ 
demnation. 

Men, not knowing this Love, constitute them- 


\ 



The Realization of Selfless Love 59 

selves judge and executioner offiheir fellows, 
forgetting that there is the Eternal Judge and 
Executioner, and in so far as men deviate from 
them in their own views, their particular reforms 
and methods, they brand them as fanatical, un¬ 
own standard do they look upon them as being 
everything that is admirable. Such are the rr>en 
who are centred in self. But he whose heart is 
centred in the supreme Love does not so brand 
and classify men; does not seek to convert men 
to his own views, not to convince them of the 
superiority of his methods. Knowing the Law 
of Love, he lives it, and maintains the same calm 
attitude of mind and sweetness of heart towards 
all. The debased and the virtuous, the foolish and 
the wise, the learned and the unlearned, the 
selfish and the unselfish receive alike the benedic¬ 
tion of his tranquil thought. 

You can only attain to this supreme knowl¬ 
edge, this divine Love by unremitting endeavor 
in self-discipline, and by gaining victory after 
victory over yourself. Only the pure in heart 
see God, and when your heart is sufficiently 
purified you will enter into the New Birth, and 
the Love that does not die, nor change, nor end 
in pain and sorrow will be awakened within you, 
and you will be at peace. 


balanced, lacking judgment, sincerity, and 
honesty; in so far as others approximate to them 



6 o 


The Way of Peace 


He who strives for the attainment of divine 
Love is ever seeking to overcome the spirit of 
condemnation, for where there is pure spiritual 
knowledge, condemnation cannot exist, and only 
in the heart that has become incapable of con¬ 
demnation is Love perfected and fully real¬ 
ized. 

The Christian condemns the Atheist; the 
Atheist satirizes the Christian; the Catholic and 
Protestant are ceaselessly engaged in wordy war¬ 
fare, and the spirit of strife and hatred rules 
wh^i^peace and love should be. 

He,that ha^eth his brother is a murderer,” a 
ctwrfier of t}/e divine Spirit of Love; and until 
;d men of all religions and of no re- 
$ the same impartial spirit, with all 
from dislike, and with perfect equa¬ 
lly, you have yet to strive for that Love 
>which bestows upon its possessor freedom and 
dvation. 

'.Che realization of divine knowledge, selfless 



ly destroys the spirit of condemna- 
es all evil, and lifts the conscious- 
height of pure vision where Love, 
Justice are seen to be universal, 
onquering, indestructible. 

ind in strong, impartial, and 
n your heart in purity and 
your tongue to silence and 


The Realization of Selfless Love 61 



to true and stainless speech; so shall you enter 
the way of holiness and peace, and shall ultimately 
realize the immortal Love. So living, without 
seeking to convert, you will convince; without 
arguing, you will teach ; not cherishing ambition, 
the wise will find you out; and without striving 
to gain men’s opinions, you will subdue their 
hearts. For Love is all-conquering, all-powerful; 
and the thoughts, and deeds, and words of Love 
can never perish. 

To know that Love is universal, supreme, all- 
sufficing ; to be freed from the trammels 
to be quit of the inward unrest; 
men are striving to realize the 
own way; to be satisfied, sorrow 
this is peace ; this is gladness ; this is i 
this is Divinity; this is the realization of 
Love. 


62 



the shore, and saw the rocks 
onslaught of the mighty sea, 
when I thought how all the countless shocks 
had withstood through an eternity, 
vear away this solid main 
efforts of the waves are vain." 

when I thought how they the rocks had rent, 
And saw the sand and shingles at my feet 
passive remnants of resistance spent) 

and tossed where they the waters meet 
I ancient landmarks ’neath the waves, 
the waters held the stones their slaves. 

mighty work the waters wrought 
softness and unceasing flow; 
they the proudest promontory brought 
nto their feet, and massy hills laid low; 

How the soft drops the adamantine wall 
Conquered at last, and brought it to its fall. 


» 


And then I knew that hard, resisting sin 

Should yield at last to Love’s soft ceaseless roll 
Coming and going, ever flowing in 

Upon the proud rocks of the human soul; 

That all resistance should be spent and past, 

And every heart yield unto it at last. 



ENTERING INTO THiJ INFINI' 

From the beginning ^,'tifne, man, in spite 
of his bodily appetites ajicf&^si)es, in the midst 
of all his clinging to earthly and impermanent 


things, has ever been intuitively conscious of the 
limited, transient, and illusionary nature of his 
material existence, and in his sane and silent 
moments has tried to reach out into a comprehen¬ 
sion of the Infinite, and has turned with tearful 
aspiration towards the restful ReaJitjr of tfte 
Eternal Heart. 

Whilst vainly imagining that the"pleasured 
earth are real and satisfying, pain and sorrow 
continually remind him of their unreal and un¬ 
satisfying nature. Ever striving to believe that] 
complete satisfaction is to be found in material 
things, he is conscious of an inward and persistent 
revolt against this belief, which revolt is at once a 
refutation of his essential mortality, and an in¬ 
herent and imperishable proof that only in the 
immortal, the eternal, the infinite can he find 
abiding satisfaction and unbroken peace. 

And here is the common ground of faith; 
here the root and spring of all religion ; here the 
soul of Brotherhood and the heart of Love,—tha 
6 3 




Way of Peace 

essentially and spiritually divine and 
and that, immersed in mortality and 
with unrest, he is ever striving to enter 
consciousness of his real nature, 
spirit of man is inseparable from the 
, and can be satisfied with nothing short 
the Infinite, and the burden of pain will con- 
ue to weigh upon mans heart, and the 
ws of sorrow to darken his pathway until, 
from his wanderings in the dream-world 
, he comes back to his home in the 
y of the Eternal. 

the smallest drop of water detached from 
ocean contains all the qualities of the ocean, 
man, detached in consciousness from the 
’te, contains within him its likeness ; and as 
drop of water must, by the law of its nature, 
tely find its way back to the ocean and 
itself in its silent depths, so must man, by 
unfailing law of his nature, at last return to 
, and lose himself in the great ocean of 
finite. 

re-become one with the Infinite is the 
of man. To enter into perfect harmony 
with the Eternal Law is Wisdom, Love and 
Peace. But this divine state is, and must ever 
be, incomprehensible to the merely personal, 
nality, separateness, selfishness are one and 
same, and are the antithesis of wisdom and 





Entering Into the f\ 


divinity. By the unqualified surrender Mg&feh 
personality, separateness and selfishness cease, 
and man enters into the possession of his divine 
heritage of immortality and infinity. \ 

Such surrender of the personality is regarded. 
by the worldly and selfish mind as the mbsf 
grievous of all calamities, the most irreparable 
loss, yet it is the one supreme and incomparable 
blessing, the only real and lasting gain. Th 
mind unenlightened upon the inner laws of being 
and upon the nature and destiny of its own life* 
clings to transient appearances, things which ha v " 
in them no enduring substantiality, and so ciin 
perishes, for the time being, amid the shattbrip^ 
wreckage of its own illusions. 

Men cling to and gratify the flesh as thou 
were going to last forever, and though they try 
to forget the nearness and inevitability of its dis¬ 
solution, the dread of death and of the loss of all 
that they cling to clouds their happiest hours, 
and the chilling shadow of their own selfishness 
follows them like a remorseless spectre. 

And with the accumulation of temporal com¬ 
forts and luxuries, the divinity within men is 
drugged, and they sink deeper and deeper into 
materiality, into the perishable life of the senses, 
and where there is sufficient intellect, theories 
concerning the immortality of the flesh come to 
be regarded as infallible truths. When a man’s 


66 


The Way of Peace 


. 


soul is clouded with selfishness in any or every 
form, he loses the power of spiritual discrimina¬ 
tion, and confuses the temporal with the eter¬ 
nal, the perishable with the permanent, mortality 
with immortality, and error with Truth. It is 
thus that the world has come to be filled with 
theories and speculations having no foundation 
in human experience. Every body of flesh con¬ 
tains within itself, from the hour of birth, the 
elements of its own destruction, and by the un¬ 
alterable law of its own nature must it pass 
away/ 0 

'.if&e perigfiable in the universe can never be¬ 
come permanent; the permanent can never pass 
away; the mortal can never become immortal, 
the immortal can never die; the temporal 
cannot become eternal nor the eternal become 
temporal; appearance can never become reality, 
nor reality fade into appearance; error can 
never become Truth, nor can Truth become 
error. Man cannot immortalize the flesh, but, 
by overcorfung the flesh, by relinquishing all its 
inclinations, he can enter the region of im- 
fnortality. “God alone hath immortality,” and 
only by realizing the God state of consciousness 
does man enter into immortality. 

All nature in its myriad forms of life is 
changeable,, impermanent, unenduring. Only 
the informing Principle of nature endures. 





| mancedJ^Cseparation, 
fe is One, and is marked 


60 


men, therefore, practice self-denial; let them 
ler their animal inclinations; let them 


The 

by Unity. W»vu,uumig uiu ounouo auu : Uiv 

selfishness within, which is the overcoming of 
nature, man emerges from the chrysalis of the 
personal and illusionary, and wings himself into 
the glorious light of the impersonal, the region 
of universal Truth, out of which all perishable 
forms come. M’lMK 

Let 

conquer 

refuse to be enslaved by luxury and pleasure; 
let them practice virtue, and grow daily into 
higher and ever higher virtue, until at last 
grow into the Divine, and enter into both 
practice and the comprehension of humility^! 
meekness, forgiveness, compassion, and lov£; 
which practice and comprehension constitute 
Divinity. 

“ Goodwill gives insight,” and onXf:M£ 
has so conquered his personality that he has b 
one attitude of mind, that of goodwill, towards" 
all creatures, is possessed of divine insight, and 
is capable of distinguishing the true from the 
false. The supremely good man is, therefore, 
the wise man, the divine man, the enlightened 
seer, the knower of the Eternal. Where yo& 
find unbroken gentleness, enduring patience, 
sublime lowliness, graciousness of speech, self- 






^||g 

^ TfxJ. 


4 % i 


t mi 



Ife 

<cJ|OT 

vMffl 


U 


control, self-forgetfulness, and deep and abound¬ 
ing sympathy, look there for the highest 
wisdom, seek the company of sudi a, one^for he 
has realized the Divine, he lives with the Eternal, 
he .has become one with the Infinite. Believe 
not him that is impatient, given to anger, boast¬ 
ful, who clings to pleasure and refuses to 
renounce his selfish gratifications, and who 
practices not goodwill and far-reaching com¬ 
passion, for such a one hath not wisdom, vain is 
all his knowledge, and his works and words will 
perish, for they are grounded on that which 
passes away. 

Let a man abandon self, let him overcome the 
world, let him deny the personal; by this path¬ 
way only can he enter into the heart of the 
Infinite. 

The world, the body, the personality are 
mirages upon the desert of time; transitory 
dreams in the dark night of spiritual slumber, 
and thosd who have crossed the desert, those 
who are spiritually awakened, have alone com¬ 
prehended the Universal Reality where all 
appearances are dispersed and dreaming and 
delusion are destroyed. 

There is one Great Law which exacts un¬ 
conditional obedience, one unifying principle 
which is the basis of all diversity, one eternal 
Truth wherein all the problems of earth pass 



Entcri) 


away like shadows.. To realize this Law, this 
Unity, this Truth, is to enter into the Infinite, is 
to become one with ttiliitental. U'V' * ‘T„; < 

To centre one’s life in the Great LawHftt 
Love is to enter into rest, harmony, pea^i&wF^*’ 

To refrain from all participation in evil an 
discord; to cease from all resistance to 
and from the omission of that which is goo 
and to fall back upon unswerving obedien 
to the holy calm within, is to enter into the i 
most heart of things, is to attain to a living, conr 
scious experience of that eternal and infifhtejft 
principle which must ever remain a hicfljiggj 
mystery to the merely perceptive inte 
Until this principle is realized, the soul i§~^nat 
established in peace, and he who so reafeeg'ls 
truly wise; not wise with the wisdom of 
learned, but with the simplicity of a blameless 
heart and of a divine manhood. 

To enter into a realization of the 
and Eternal is to rise superior to time,' and the > 
world, and the body, which comprise the kin m 
dom of darkness; and is to become established 
in immortality, Heaven, and the Spirit, which j 
make up the Empire of Light. 

Entering into the Infinite is not a mere raepryv 
or sentiment. It is a vital experience wlli^h-is , 
the result of assiduous practice in inward purinea- 
tion. When the body is no longer believed to 



MM 



; when all appe- 
subdued and 
rested and calm, 
the oscillation of the intellect ceases 
poise is secured, then, and not till 
en, does consciousness become one with the 
nite; not until then is childlike wisdom and 
peace secured. 

en grow weary and gray over the dark 
of life, and finally pass away and leave 
unsolved because they cannot see their 
of the darkness of the personality, being 
much engrossed in its limitations. Seeking 
his personal life, man forfeits the greater 
Life in Truth; clinging to the perish- 
is shut out from a knowledge of the 

the surrender of self all difficulties are 
, and there is no error in the universe 
fire of inward sacrifice will burn it up 
; no problem, however great, but will dis¬ 
like a shadow under the searching light 
self-abnegation. Problems exist only in our 
oWn self-created illusions, and they vanish away 
When self is yielded up. Self and error are synony¬ 
mous. Error is involved in the darkness of un¬ 
fathomable complexity, but eternal simplicity is 
the glory of Truth. 

Love of self shuts men out from Truth, and 



Entering Into the Infinite 


71 


seeking their own personal happiness they lose 
the deeper, purer, and more abiding bliss. Says 
Carlyle—“ There is in man a higher than love of 
happiness. He can do without happiness, and 
instead thereof find blessedness. 

“ . . . Love not pleasure, love God. This 

is the Everlasting Yea, wherein all contradiction 
is solved; wherein whoso walks and works, it is 
well with him.” 

He who has yielded up that self, that per¬ 
sonality that men most love, and to which they 
cling with such fierce tenacity, has left behind 
him all perplexity, and has .entered, into a 
simplicity so profoundly simple as to be Wofed 
upon by the world, involved as it is ir^a 11 
error, as foolishness. Yet such a one has re; 
the highest wisdom, and is at rest in the St® 

He “ accomplishes without striving,” ana an 
problems melt before him, for he has entered the 
region of reality, and deals, not with changing 
effects, but with the unchanging principles of 
things. He is enlightened with a wisdom which 
is as superior to ratiocination, as r reason; 
animality. Having yielded up his lu|ts,iiis errors, 
his opinions and prejudices, he has entered into 
possession of the knowledge of Gpd^having slain 
the selfish desire for heaven, and along with it the 
ignorant fear of hell; having' r®>pU&h^d even 




ges life and 
< Having 

up ail without reservation, he ha&gained 
d rests in peace on the bosom of the 
ite. 

^nly he who has become so free from self as 
equally content to be annihilated as to live, 
ive as to be annihilated, is fit to enter into the 
ite. Only he who, ceasing to trust his per- 
le self, has learned to trust in boundless 
ure the Great Law, the Supreme Good, is 
ared to partake of undying bliss. 

such a one there is no more regret, nor 
pointment, nor remorse, for where all selfish- 
has ceased these sufferings cannot be; and 
j^fatever happens to him he knows that it is for 
own good, and he is content, being no longer 
servant of self, but the servant of the Supreme. 
k ejs no longer affected by the changes of earth, 
en he hears of wars and rumors of wars 
is not disturbed, and where men grow 
gry and cynical and quarrelsome, he bestows 
passion and love. Though appearances may 
contradict it, he knows that the world is pro¬ 
gressing, and that 

“ Through its laughing and its weeping, 

Through its living and its keeping, 

Through its follies and its labors, weaving in 
and out of sight, 


Entering 

To the end from the beginning, 

Through all virtue and all sinning, 

Reeled from God’s great spool of Progress, runs 

tine golden thread of light.” ^ ,* 

When a' fierce storm is raging none are ~vykr\ 

angered about it, because they know it will f\ V 
quickly pass away, and when the storijis of vH.-Xv 
contention are devastating the ^ 




the wise 

man, looking with the eye q^JTruth and pity, 
knows that it will pass away, and that <w1g&; 
the wreckage of broken hearts which it leaves 
behind the immortal Temple of Wisdom willv&d 
built. 


<^ v oS 


U 


Sublimely patient; infinitely compassionate; 
deep, silent, and pure, his very presence is a 
benediction; and when he speaks men ponder 
his words in their hearts, and by them rise to 
higher levels of attainment. Such is he who has 
entered into the Infinite, who by the power of 
utmost sacrifice has solved the sacred mystery 

li,e - JftKtft b 






Way of Peace 


Questioning Life and Destiny and Truth, 

I sought the dark and labyrinthine Sphinx, 

Who spake to me this strange and wondrous thing 
“ Concealment only lies in blinded eyes, 

AncLGod alone can see the Form of God.” 

L sought to solve this hidden mystery 
Vairily l by paths of blindness and of pain, 

But when I found the Way of Love and Peace, 
Concealment ceased, and I was blind no more: 
Then saw 1 God e’en with the eyes of God. 



SAINTS, SAGES, AND SAVIOUR 
THE LAW OF SERVICE 

The spirit of Love which is manifested as a 
perfect and rounded life, is the crown of 
and the supreme end of knowledge upon this 
earth. 

The measure of a man’s truth is the meas 
of his love, and Truth is far removed 
him whose life is not governed by Love, 
intolerant and condemnatory, even though 
profess the highest religion, have the smallei 
measure of Truth; while those who exercii 
patience, and who listen calmly and dispassion^ 
ately to all sides, and both arrive themselves 
at, and incline others to, thoughtful and un¬ 
biassed conclusions upon all problems 
issues, have Truth in fullest measure. The, 
final test of wisdom is this,—how does a m 
live? What spirit does he manifest? 
does he act under trial and temptation ? 
men boast of being in possession of Truth v 
are continually swayed by grief, disappointme 
and passion, and who sink under the first little 
trial that comes along. Truth is nothing if not 
unchangeable, and in so far as a man takes his 
75 




a m r 

eeo'me steadfast in 


todiis passions and 


dm 


ijxtx&l. 

stand: upon' Tjruth -d 

,< :.??■;, O f ■ ■■ ■ - r f 

virtue, does he rise s 
emotiqiis and^lj^geabiiqaersonality. 

Men formulate perishable dogmas, and call 
iiem Truth. Truth cannot be formulated; it 
( . / iff ineffable, and ever beyond the reach of in- 
ect. It can only be experienced by prac- 
it can only be manifested as a stainless 
rt and a perfect life. 

Who, then, in the midst of the ceaseless 
pandemonium of schools and creeds and parties, 
the Truth? He who lives it. He who 
ctices it. He who, having risen above that 
‘pandemonium by overcoming himself, no longer 
^ehgag|S in it, but sits apart, quiet, subdued, 
galpv/and self-possessed, freed from all strife, all 
biks, all condemnation, and bestows upon all the 
glad and unselfish love of the divinity within 
huh. 

Pj|j w ho is patient, calm, gentle, and forgiving 
uiider all circumstances, manifests the Truth. 
Tfiath will never be proved by wordy arguments 
and learned treatises, for if men do not perceive 
the Truth in infinite patience, undying forgive- 
and all-embracing compassion, no words 
can ever prove it to them. 

is an easy matter for the passionate to 
be calm and patient when they are alone, or 
are in the midst of calmness. It is equally 



% 

Saints y 


easy for the unc! 
kind when they 

who retains his pais^^^fta c&i 
all trial, who remains sublimely meek 
gentle under the most trying circumsta 
he, and he alone, is possessed of the spotl 
Truth. And this is so because such lofty' 
virtues belong to the Divine, and can only 
manifested by one who has attained to t 
highest wisdom, who has relinquished his pa! 
sionate and self-seeking nature, who has realized 
the supreme and unchangeable Law, and ha 
brought himself into harmony with it. 

Let men, therefore, cease from vain and 
sionate arguments about Truth, and let 
think and say and do those things whic^L 
for harmony, peace, love, and goodwill. ^L 
them practice heart-virtue, and search hu 
and diligently for the Truth which frees t 
from all error and sin, from all that bli 
human heart, and that darkens, as with 
night, the pathway of the wandering 
earth. 

There is one great all-embracing Law w 
is the foundation and cause of the 
the Law of Love. It has been called 
names in various countries and at variou 
but behind all its names the same unalt< 

Law may be discovered by the eye of Truth 



78 


The Way of Peace 


Names, religions, personalities pass away, but 
the Law of Love remains. To become possessed 
of a knowledge of this Law, to enter into con¬ 
scious harmony with it, is to become immortal, 
invincible, indestructible. 

It is because of the effort of the soul to 
realize this Law that men come again and 
again to live, to suffer, and to die; and when 
realized, suffering ceases, personality is dis¬ 
persed, and the fleshly life and death are des¬ 
troyed, for consciousness becomes one with the 
Eternal* 

{Orgy 

Tber Law is absolutely impersonal, and its 
highest x manifested expression is that of Service. 
.\^fn^th^jEM^ified heart has realized Truth it 
upon to make the last, the 
greatest;* and holiest sacrifice, the sacrifice of 
l^^wa il-earned enjoyment of Truth. It is 
by virtue of this sacrifice that the divinely- 
. emancipated soul comes to dwell amongst men, 
clothed with a body of flesh, content to dwell 
^hg&ngst lowliest and least, and to be 

servant of all mankind. That 
tylity which is manifested by the 
saviours is the seal of Godhead, and he 
has annihijated the personality, and has be¬ 
come ^^^^^visible manifestation of the im- 
idless Spirit of Love, is 
worthy to receive the 






Saints, Sages , and 


unstinted worship of posterity. He 
succeeds in humbling himself with 
humility which is not only the extinction 
but is also the pouring out upon all the 
of unselfish love, is exalted above 
given spiritual dominion in the hearts 
kind. 

All the great spiritual teachers have 
themselves personal luxuries, comforts, 
wards, have abjured temporal power, 
lived and taught the limitless and 
Truth. Compare their lives and teachings, 
you will find the same simplicity, the same 
sacrifice, the same humility, love, and peace 
lived and preached by them. They taught 
same eternal Principles, the realization of w 
destroys all evil. Those who have been 
and worshiped as the saviours of mankind 
manifestations of the Great impersonal Law, 
being such, were free from passion and prej 
and having no opinions, and no special 
doctrine to preach and defend, they 
sought to convert and to proselytize, 
the highest Goodness, the supreme 
their sole object was to uplift mankind 
manifesting that Goodness in thought, word, 
deed. They stand between man the 
and God the impersonal, and serve as 
types for the salvation of self-enslaved man 



Peace 


j&^jvho can- 
absolutely 

divinity .except 

intro^tt^'f^rs&ial hatred 
doctrinal controversy, and, whilst defending 
^^Keir^ own particular views with passion, look 
~ A other as being heathens or infidels, 
arid void, as far as their lives 
^concerned, unselfish beauty and holy 
ur of the lives and teachings of their own 
rs. Truth cannot be limited; it can never 
e special prerogative of any man, school, or 
ion, and when personality steps in, Truth is 

e glory alike of the saint, the sage, and the 
ur is this,—that he has realized the most 
ofound lowliness, the most sublime unselfish- 
having given up all, even his own 
ersonality, all his works are holy and enduring, 
>r they are freed from every taint of self. He 
iyes, yet never thinks of receiving; he works 
f^ithMit regretting the past or anticipating the 
futur^h.nd never looks for reward. 

When the farmer has tilled and dressed his 
: ^and and put in the seed, he knows that he has 
^4one all that he can possibly do, and that now 
^2die must trust to the elements, and wait patiently 
for the course of time to bring about the harvest, 
and that no amount of expectancy on his part 




will affe 
realized 

of gooaness^hrity, loVe and peace, without ei 
pectancy, and never looking for results, knorw^i 
that there is the Great Over-ruling Law wl 
brings about its own harvest in due time,, 
which is alike the source of preservation^ 
destruction. 

Men, not understanding the divine simply 
of a profoundly unselfish heart, look upon 
particular saviour as the manifestation 
special miracle, as being something entii 
apart and distinct from the nature of things 
as being, in his ethical excellence, eternalh 
approachable by the whole of mankind, 
attitude of unbelief (for such it is) in the divil 
perfectibility of man, paralyzes effort, and bii 
the souls of men as with strong ropes to sin ar 
suffering. Jesus “ grew in wisdom” and ^ j; 

“perfected by suffering.” What 

became such; what Buddha was, he became ^ * 

such; and every holy man became such bv 
unremitting perseverance in self-sacrifice, 
recognize this, once realize that by watchful 
effort and hopeful perseverance you can rise 
above your lower nature, and great and glorio^f 
will be the vistas of attainment that will o 


out before you. Buddha vowed that he wouf 
not relax his efforts until he arrived at the state 


^complished, you likewise may accomplish if 
you will only tread the way which they trod and 
'pointed Ola the way of self-sacrifice, of self- 

Trutli is very A simple. It says, “ Give up 
“ Come um& me ” (away from all that 
■ “ and I will give you rest." All the 

mountains of commentary that have been piled 
^Son it cannot hide it from the heart that is 
^i^nesjdv seeking for Righteousness. It does not 
Sj5pfe?Tearning; it can be known in spite of 
learning. Disguised under many forms by 
•emhg self-seeking man, the beautiful simplicity 
Slid clear transparency of Truth remains un¬ 
altered and undimmed, and the unselfish heart 
^enters into and partakes of its shining radiance. 
,3£et by weaving complex theories, not by 
^ffi^ing up speculative philosophies is Truth 
'realrad; but by weaving the web of inward 
purity, by building up the Temple of a stainless 
life is Truth realized. 

He who enters upon this holy way begins by 
restraining his passions. This is virtue, and is 
the beginning of saintship, and saintship is the 
beginning of holiness. The entirely worldly 
man gratifies all his desires, and practices no 




Saints , Sages , and Saviours 


83 


more restraint than the law of the land in which 
he lives demands; the virtuous man restrains his 
passions; the saint attacks the enemy of Truth 
in its stronghold within his own heart, and re¬ 
strains all selfish and impure thoughts; whilst 
the holy man is he who is free from passion and 
all impure thought, and to whom goodness and 
purity have become as natural as scent and color 
are to the flower. The holy man is divinely 
wise; he alone knows Truth in its fulness, and 
has entered into abiding rest and pe^ce. For 
him evil has ceased; it has disappeared in fthe 
universal light of the All-Good. Holiness is the 
badge of wisdom. Said Krishna To the Prince 
Arjuna — * 



" Humbleness, truthfulness, and harmlessness, * 
Patience and honor, reverence for the wise, 
Purity, constancy, control of self, 

Contempt of sense-delights, self-sacrifice, 
Perception of the certitude of ill 
In birth, death, age, disease, sufferinj 
An ever tranquil heart in fortunes go 

And fortunes evil,. 

.Endeavors resolute 

To reach perception of the utmost som, 

And grace to understand what gaind^were 
So to attain—this is true wisdor 
And what is otherwise is ignorance 




selfishness, and strives to supplan 








embracing love is a saint, whetlier he live in a 
cottage or id the midst of ri&hgaK and influence ; 
j qr whether he preaches or remains obscure. 

To the wbrkfling, who is beginning to aspire 
towards higher things,, the saint, such as a sweet 
St. Francis of Assisr,'C|ra conquering St. Anthony, 
is a glorious and inspiring spectacle ; to the saint, 
an equally enrapturing sight is that of the sage, 
sitting serene arid-moly, the conqueror of sin 
and sorrow, no more tormented by regret and 
remorse, and whom even temptation can never 
i|§r£ach; and yet even the sage is drawn on by a 
still more glorious vision, that of the saviour 
actively manifesting his knowledge in selfless 
works, aj£f> rendering his divinity more potent 
for good F>y sinking himself in the throbbing, 
W^jorrowing, aspiring heart of mankind. 

And this only is true service—to forget one¬ 
self in love towards all, to lose oneself in working 
for the whole. O thou vain and foolish man, 
who thinkest that thy many works can save thee; 
who, chained to all error, talkest loudly of thyself, 
thy work, and thy many sacrifices, and magnifiest 
thine own importance; know this, that though 
thy fame fill the whole earth, all thy work shall 
come to dust, and thou thyself be reckoned 
^C^lower than the least in the Kingdom of Truth ! 

Only the work that is impersonal can live; 
the works of self are both powerless and perish- 



Saints , Sages , an 

W' 

able. Where duties, howsoever humble, are d^jie 
without self-interest, and with joyful sacrifice, 
there is true service and enduring wor^| Wiferij' 
deeds, however brilliant and apparently success-, 
ful, are done from love of self, there is ignorance 
of the Law of Service, and the work perishe^uf k jA 
It is given to the world to learn one great; an 
divine lesson, the lesson of absolute unselfishness. 
The saints, sages, and saviours of all time are they 
who have submitted themselves to this task, 
have learned and lived it. All the Scripturqgg 
world are framed to teach this one lessc*®? 

. T • 

great teachers reiterate it. It is too, 
the world which, scorning it, stumble^ 
the complex ways of selfishness. 

A pure heart is the end of all religion 
beginning of divinity. To search for this RiJ 
eousness is to walk the Way of Truth and Peace, 
and he who enters this Way will soon perceive that 
Immortality which is independent of birth and 
death, and will realize that in the Divine economy 
of the universe the humblest effort is not lost. 

The divinity of a Krishna, a Gautama, or a 
Jesus is the crowning glory of self-abnegation, the 
end of the soul’s pilgrimage in matter and 
mortality, and the world will not have finished its 
long journey until every soul has become as these, 
and has entered into the blissful realization of its 
own divinity. 




The Way of Peace 


glory crowns the heights of hope by arduous struggle 
won; 

Bright honor rounds the hoary head that mighty works hath 
done; 

riches come to him who strives in ways of golden gain, 
fame enshrines his name who works with genius-glowing 
brain: 

glory waits for him who, in the bloodless strife 
’Gainst self and wrong, adopts, in love, the sacrificial life; 

brighter honor rounds the brow of him who, ’mid the 
scorns 

blind idolaters of self, accepts the crown of thorns; 

And fairer, purer riches come to him who greatly strives 
walk in ways of love and truth to sweeten human lives; 
And he who serveth well mankind exchanges fleeting fame 
or Light eternal, Joy and Peace, and robes of heavenly flame. 


7 



THE REALIZATION 
PEA 

In the external universeLAljefe 4 is ceaseless 
turmoil, change, and unrest LjS the heart of all 
things there is undisturbed repose; in this dee 
silence dwelleth the Eternal. 

Man partakes of this duality, and both i 
surface change and disquietude, and the d^ej 
seated eternal abode of Peace are contain 
within him. 


>ce£n which 


As there are silent depths in the 0 ( 
the fiercest storm cannot reach, so ffgsre are 
silent, holy depths in the heart of mah which 
the storms of sin and sorrow can never disturb. 
To reach this silence and to live consciously^ 
in it is peace. 

Discord is rife in the outward world, but un¬ 
broken harmony holds sway at the heart of the 
universe. The human soul, torn by discordant 
passion and grief, reaches blindly towards the 
harmony of the sinless state, and to reach this 
state and to live consciously in it is peace. 

Hatred severs human lives, fosters persecu¬ 
tion, and hurls nations into ruthless war, yet 
87 



aith- m fhe overshadow- 
and ToMach this* Lov( 


why, 


Love 


' d< 

l^ome Measure of 
feet Love; 

d'xto live consciously in it is peace. 

d this inwafd; peace, this silence, this har- 
, this Le^^'vtys Kingdom of Heaven, 
hich is so difficult )to reach because few are 
willing to give ^JpLjhemselves and to become as 
little children. O 

“ Heaven’s gate is very narrow and minute, 

It cannot be perceived by foolish men 
Blinded by vain illusions of the world; 

E’en the clear-sighted who discern the way, 

And seek to enter, find the portal barred, 

^.nd hard to be unlocked. Its massive bolts 
Are pride and passion, avarice and lust.’ 

en qry peace! peace! where there is no 
geace, buKon the contrary, discord, disquietude 
and strife. Apart from that Wisdom which is 
Inseparable from self-renunciation, there can be 
p real and abiding peace. 

The peace which results from social comfort, 
passing gratification, or worldly victory is transi¬ 
tory in its nature, and is burned up in the heat of 
fiery trial. Only the Peace of Heaven en¬ 
dures through all trial, and only the selfless heart 
can know the Peace of Heaven. 

Holiness alone is undying peace. Self-con¬ 
trol leads to it, and the ever-increasing Light of 


The Realization of Perfect Peace 89 


Wisdom guides the pilgrim on his way. It is 
partaken of in a measure as soon as the path of 
virtue is entered upon, but it is only realized in 
its fulness when self disappears in the consum¬ 
mation of a stainless life. 


“ This is peace, 
To conquer love of self and lust of life. 
To tear deep-rooted passion from the heart 
To still the inward strife.” 


& 






If, O reader ! you would realize the Light that 
never fades, the Joy that never ends, and the 
tranquillity that cannot be disturbed; if you 
would leave behind forever your sins, your sor¬ 
rows, your anxieties and perplexities; if, I say, 
you would partake of this salvation, this 
supremely glorious Life, then conquer yourself. 
Bring every thought, every impulse, every desire 
into perfect obedience to the divine power resi¬ 
dent within you. There is no other way to 
peace but this, and if you refuse to walk it, your 
much praying and your strict adherence to rituhl 
will be fruitless and unavailing, and neither gods 
nor angels can help you. Only to him that 
overcometh is given the white stone of the re¬ 
generate life, on which is written the New and 
Ineffable Name. 

Come away, for a while, from external things, 
from the pleasures of the senses, from the argu- 


I 



9o 




The Way of Peace 



tyients of; the intellect, from the noise and the 
eijients of the world, and withdraw yourself 
ost chamber of your heart, and 
fre^ from the sacrilegious intrusion of all 
desires, you will find a deep silence, a 
calm, blissful repose, and if you will rest 
lie in that holy place, and will meditate there, 
faultless eye of Truth will open within you, 
ou Will see things as they really are. This 
oly/place within you is your real and eternal 
'"i^t is the divine within you ; and only when 
; ^d|ntify yourself with it can you be said to 
and in your right mind." It is the 
PP; peace, the temple of wisdom, the 
dwelling-place of immortality. Apart from this 
inward resting-place, this Mount of Vision, there 
can be no true peace, no knowledge of the 
Divine, and if you can remain there for one 
minute, one hour, or one day, it is possible for 
you to remain there always. 

All your sins and sorrows, your fears and 
anxieties are your own, and you can cling to 
them or you can give them up. Of your own 
accord you cling to your unrest; of your own 
accord you can come to abiding peace. No 
one else can give up sin for you; you must 
give it up yourself. The greatest teacher can 
do no more than walk the way of Truth for 
himself, and point it out to you; you yourself 


The Realization of 



must walk it for yourself, 
freedom and peace alone by your own 
yielding up that which binds the soul, 
is destructive of peace. 

The angels of divine peace and joy 
at hand, and if you do not see them, 
them, and dwell with them, it is because 
shut yourself out from them, and 
company of the spirits of evil within you. 
are what you will to be, what you wish to 
what you prefer to be. You can comm 
purify yourself, and by so doing can 
peace, or you can refuse to purify 
so remain with suffering. 

Step aside, then ; come out of the 
fever of life; away from the scorching 
self, and enter the inward resting-place w 
the cooling airs of peace will calm, renew, and 
restore you. 

Come out of the storms of sin and anguish. 
Why be troubled and tempest-tossed when the 
haven of peace is so near ? 

Give up all self-seeking; give up self, and lo ! 
the Peace of God is yours ! 

Subdue the animal within you ; conquer every 
selfish uprising, every discordant voice; trans¬ 
mute the base metals of your selfish nature into 
the unalloyed gold of Love, and you shall realize 
the Life of Perfect Peace. Thus subduing, thus 


92 


The Way of Peace 


conquering, thus transmuting, you will, O reader! 
whilst living in the flesh, cross the dark waters of 
mortality, and will reach that Shore upon which 
the storms of sorrow never beat, and where 
sin and suffering and dark uncertainty cannot 
come. Standing upon that Shore, holy, com¬ 
passionate, awakened, and self-possessed and 
glad with unending gladness, you will realize 
that 



“Never the Spirit was born, the Spirit will cease to be 
never; 

time it was not, end and beginning are 


and changeless remaineth the Spirit 
touched it at all, dead though the house of 


will then know the meaning of Sin, of 
, of Suffering, and that the end thereof is 
; will know the cause and the issue of 


this realization you will enter into 
is the bliss of immortality, this the 
gladness, this the untrammeled 
ge, undefiled Wisdom, and undying 
this only, is the realization of 


The Realization of Perfect Peace 93 


O thou who wouldst teach men of Truth ! 

Hast thou passed through the desert of doubt ? 
Art thou purged by the fires of sorrow ? hath ruth 
The fiends of opinion cast out 
Of thy human heart ? Is thy soul so fair 
That no false thought can ever harbor there ? 



O thou who wouldst teach men of Love! 


Hast thou passed through the place of despair ? 
Hast thou wept through the dark night 
move 

(Now freed from its sorrow and care) 

Thy human heart to pitying gentleness, 

Looking on wrong, and hate, and ceaseless 

O thou who wouldst teach men of Peace ! 

Hast thou crossed the wide ocean of strife ? 

Hast thou found on the Shores of the Silence, release 
From all the wild unrest of life ? 

From thy human heart hath all striving gone, 
Leaving but Truth, and Love, and Peace 


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One’s Atmosphere 

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A Psychic Law in Student Work 
Unfoldment 

Power : How to Attain It 

Harmony 

The Assertion of the I 



The Tree of Knowledge— of Good and Evil 

Conditions 

Faith 

Back of Vibration* 

Wasted Energy 
Something About Genius 

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1 I 

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Man, Limitless 
Love 

The Christ Principle Through Intuition 
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Control of Memory- 
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Must Age Enfeeble ? 

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Children of the Gods 
Shakespeare’s Ariel 
Spirit Aid in Man’s Unfoldment 


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Interior Force—Its Practical Evolution 
'Xbowght as a Shie d—-The Human Aura 


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